


It's a (Pretty) Wonderful Life

by kitausuret



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Spider-Man (Comicverse), Venom (Comics)
Genre: Andi is a Little Shit, Baking, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Special, Eddie is Awkward about Gifts and Feelings, Established Relationship Eddie/Symbiote, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Family, Fix-It of Sorts, Flash is the Best, Getting Together, M/M, Mistletoe, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Other, symbrock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 05:32:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17156147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitausuret/pseuds/kitausuret
Summary: Eddie Brock was never much of a Christmas fan. His childhood Christmases had been pleasant enough, but nowadays served only to remind him of his estranged family. Besides, it was ultimately just a mishmash of capitalism and stress. But with his symbiote partner doing much better these days - and encouraging him to do the same - for the first time in a long time, Eddie is feeling some holiday cheer.(Gift Fic for my friend Cryptic - Merry Christmas!)





	It's a (Pretty) Wonderful Life

**Author's Note:**

> Quick continuity note, if you're reading the latest of comics - Flash did not die at the end of ASM #800, though he did lose the Anti-Venom; Andi Benton got her symbiote back; with Mania's help, Eddie and the symbiote were not mortally injured after the fight against Knull. Because canon is wrong and I'm here to fix it.

_“Eddie, wake up.”_

He felt something warm and wet on his neck, tracing up his jaw and onto his cheek. Eddie chuckled and rolled over, burying his face in his pillow. _No, go back to sleep, love._ Even so, he shivered as a mass of tendrils caressed his back and shoulders.

 _“I do not sleep. You know this.”_ The symbiote’s amusement, bright and warm, lingered in the back of his mind. _“And it is Christmas morning. A holiday to be celebrate and enjoyed.”_

_Ah, yes, an appropriated holiday which has devolved into the epitome of capitalistic greed and seems to bring out the worst in humanity year after…_

The symbiote hissed aloud, more teasing than upset. _“You were not so irritated last night.”_ It wrapped a tentacle around the hem of the comforter and tugged it down.

Eddie sighed at the memories brought to the forefront. _All right, I suppose…_ He thought back to their night volunteering at the F.E.A.S.T. Center. He’d grown out a beard recently (how anyone had convinced him to participate in the office “No Shave November” was beyond him… but it had gotten at least a thousand dollars donated to prostate cancer research). Thus, he had been convinced to don the horrible ( _“charming,”_ his other corrected) red suit and hat last night.

Truth was, it had been at May Parker’s request. That, and the way he’d seen Flash Thompson’s eyes light up - one of just only a few times since summer - well, after what they had all been through… perhaps a little so-called “holiday cheer” was in order. Besides, all the kids coming up to him with excited grins and even a few hugs and grateful parents with tears in their eyes as he passed out the donated gifts; that made it worth it. He enjoyed being part of something good again. It was nice.

And so much had changed since the Red Goblin incident months ago. They’d almost lost Flash, who still had struggles in the wake of (in his words) getting “microwaved alive”. They continued to work with and raise the little spawnling expelled just a couple weeks before the rise of the new Carnage. Since then, with Agent Anti-Venom no longer existing and sixth sense of an even larger threat on the horizon, they had doubled down efforts to retrieve the Mania symbiote. Andi eventually got her partner back, though they weren’t inclined to ask _how_.

She looked a little more haunted these days, but she and Flash were “working it out”. He and Andi got along, and of course the Mania symbiote shared an unusual bond with his other, but Flash was her godfather. In any case, it almost felt too close to home. He knew what it was like to have his partner ripped away. Knew it too well.

And then… Knull had happened. A so-called symbiote god who bore too much resemblance to Morbius the Living Vampire for Eddie to not have a little bit of a hysterical laughter on the inside. A symbiote dragon called “Grendel” rising from the ground; increasing troubles with his other; an inexplicable fear; all had coalesced into a crazy wave of events that changed them both forever. The symbiote reconnected with the Klyntar Hive. Mania had swung in to help, throwing a new variable in that basically ruined Knull’s whole plan.

If not for her Hellmark abilities, Eddie wasn’t sure he and his other would have survived; especially not when they had to shut the Grendel in a furnace…

A shudder crawled up his spine and he felt tendrils around his torso, embracing him tightly. His breath shook as he sighed. Flash, still bandaged from his injuries, had practically sobbed as he hugged all of them upon returning Andi to him that night, apologies spilling from his lips about _I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, I’m sorry you had to face that all alone, I’m just so glad you’re all okay!_ Something had flickered in Eddie’s chest at that, but nothing worth looking too hard at. Flash was just a good person. That was all.

Since then, things had settled down. Eddie continued his work with the Fact Channel, writing frankly _shitty_ tabloids to pay rent and keep food on the table. His other spoke with far more clarity than before, their bond feeling solidified in light of reconnecting to the Hive. In turn, Eddie felt better, too. Even in their early days, when things were good and worries far behind, it had never been like _this_ . It wasn’t even the new abilities - the wings or the inter-symbiote telepathy (which Andi wasn’t too keen on being a part of) or the feeling of strength - that he cherished the most. It was just _feeling_ the symbiote. It felt like more its own individual than ever, but it seemed like a fog had been lifted. It shared memories and images and emotions he had no words for with him. They could converse for hours on end, about nothing and everything.

They could reconcile. They could heal.

They could move forward.

_“And out of bed?”_

Eddie laughed and finally sat up. “All right, all right. Point taken, love.” He stretched his arms above his head, joints popping as he did so. The symbiote wound away from his torso, forming a head and touched it to Eddie’s.

_“We should visit the Alchemax building today.”_

“It’s a holiday; I doubt anyone will be there.”

_“I saw Doctor Steven’s calendar. He will be stopping in to check on the young symbiote. We should go there, perhaps later.”_

Once in the kitchen, he filled a kettle with water, turned on the stove that only worked about half of the time, and started rummaging around for breakfast. “I realize this is really the first Christmas we’ve had since rebonding, but darling…” Eddie frowned as he saw he was almost out of Earl Grey tea. “...it never seemed to matter all that much to you.”

It peered curiously at him, white eyespots narrowed a little. _“It… is a human holiday, one far removed from its origins, but…”_ The symbiote looked away then. Cerulean tinted the edges of Eddie’s vision before immediately fading.

“...Venom?”

He didn’t often use the name to address his other, as it still was the one he associated with their joined form. But in the wake of Knull, and the resulting discussion of “I don’t even know your name”, it had explained how, as pawns of their progenitor, symbiotes had no names. It liked the name they had together, and had taken it as its own to honor Eddie. Whatever his own feelings about that, the symbiote seemed to calm when called that.

_“Flash enjoys holidays. Even when we were in space, he kept track of the date on Earth so he never missed one. He liked them because he said it was an excuse to tell someone you care about them. I appreciated that.”_

_Oh._ Of course it was Thompson. The golden boy. The hero adorned in medals. A feeling, not quite jealousy and far from contempt, burned in his chest.

_“Eddie.”_

He turned to his other. Tendrils leaked out from the center mass and took his face gently, like some mimicry of hands. The symbiote kissed him - well, perhaps _kissing_ was not the proper term for the strange way it placed its mouth against his, thick tongue tracing softly, fangs prickling his lips. The action sent a flutter through him every time, and now, more than ever.

 _“I want to share this holiday with you_ because _you are so important to me. I know your heart now every bit as much as I do Flash’s.”_

That weird, sad pang again. _Do? Not did?_ The thought came before he could stop it.

A kind of sigh echoed in his mind. _“You are both a part of me, Eddie. But you and I… we have been given a second chance. Since regaining my memories, I wanted little more than to be able to share myself with you - properly.”_

“I know, love, it’s…” Eddie moved the pot away from the burner the moment it started whistling. The symbiote had since retreated beneath his skin again in anticipation of the sound. “It’s just taking some getting used to. I’ve never heard you like this.”

_“Nothing has changed, my heart. I am still the one you bonded to all those years ago in the cathedral. I am still the one you protected for years and gave home and love to.”_

“But everything _has_ changed. I’ve changed; you’ve changed.”

_“Is it not for the better? Have we not both grown, then?”_

He frowned heavily and stared at the tea bags because it was better than being lost in his own head. He thought back to his fight with cancer; to being Anti-Venom; to losing it all and becoming Toxin… _I’m not sure that it is._

_“We all make terrible mistakes, Eddie. This was not one of them.”_

“I’m sorry, love. Guess I’m just not in much of a celebratory mood today.”

It fell silent then. The symbiote remained a calm, soothing presence within him, but he wondered if he had upset it.

Wouldn’t be the first time.

\-----

At the symbiote’s insistence, after a quick breakfast they headed down to Alchemax Headquarters. He wasn’t _exactly_ a wanted man at this point, given his assistance in recent world-in-peril events, but he wasn’t about to go swinging through the streets as Venom in broad daylight. He rode the elevator up to the labs, and upon entering the xenobiology wing, saw through the window…

...Mania?

The girl and symbiote knelt before the large tank, grinning and speaking softly to the young one within. She’d dropped what appeared to be a hackey sack into the tank, giggling as it pushed the object around. Eddie entered, a little cautiously. Steven was busy with a microscope, but he startled upon seeing Eddie.

“Oh, Eddie! I-” His eyes flickered between Mania, Eddie, and now the Venom symbiote, which had manifested a head from his shoulder now that they were in understanding company. “I remembered, uh, Mania. From the - the thing that happened and she wanted to say hi and I told her it was okay as long as she didn’t touch and-”

“Hey Eddie,” Mania called from across the lab. Her symbiote unwrapped from her face, revealing only Andrea Benton. “Merry Christmas.”

Venom tugged at him until he went over to join her. “What are you doing here?”

“Um, being the awesome Aunt Mania, _of course_.” Andi lifted an eyebrow. “You’re okay with that, right?”

_“Tell her of course it is all right.”_

“...Yeah, that’s okay. Just,” he added quickly, “be careful; it’s very impressionable at this age and we’re trying to be good… parents.”

“Come on, Eddie, I learned from the best!” She reached a tendril down into the tank and wiggled it at the baby, who reached up to try and grab it. “Don’t worry, we haven’t bonded with it or anything. I just figured it’s Christmas, and the little goop is family, and now it’s got a little present, too.”

He knelt down next to her and noticed the hackey sack was blue with a white six-pointed star on it. “Hanukkah?”

“Mom’s side.” Andi’s smile faltered a little. “We always celebrated both when I was growing up. Neither of my parents were like, super religious, but it was nice getting together with family for holidays.”

Eddie gave a soft, “hmm,” in reply but nothing else. When she moved over, he let the symbiote wrap him up and they reached down to retrieve the spawnling. It moved immediately into their hands, sinking in and sending a small burst of affection that had Eddie smiling. It was starting to show some yellow stripes in its form, rather than the solid black, and he swore it looked like the red in it could be eyespots some day. It likely wouldn’t decide on a permanent design until first bonding with a host, but that day could be a while from now.

They brought it close, and it nuzzled against its parents with a soft noise they felt more than heard. Andi tried and failed to hold back a snort of laughter.

“Sorry, that’s just… really cute.” She let the symbiote cover her face again. “Can we hold it? Please?”

“All right. But please be careful.”

They handed over their progeny, and Mania took it with a delighted squeal. “Oh hi, hi there, aren’t you the cutest little thing?” She glanced up. “Does it have a name yet?”

“We would allow it to name itself.”

“You should buck the trend of edgy names. It’s kinda nineties.”

She wouldn’t see it through the symbiote, but he rolled his eyes. “You have spikes _everywhere_ and call yourselves _Mania_.”

“It’s for intimidation!” Mania slipped the symbiote back into its tank where it resumed playing with its new toy. “Oh, almost forgot.” From within the symbiotic suit, she produced what appeared to be a Spider-Man patterned sock. “From Uncle Flash,” she said by way of explanation. “Now it has a stocking! Coach couldn’t make it over here, so I promised I’d drop this off.”

The spawnling slinked over to the sock, reached inside, and dragged out a small chocolate. It didn’t have much in the way of teeth, but it seemed to enjoy absorbing the treat. They gave it one last gentle stroke before stepping back.

“You’re going to Mrs. Parker’s Christmas gathering, right?”

The symbiote sank back mostly beneath his skin, the rest changing back into street clothes, Mania following suit. “I… probably shouldn’t.”

“But she’ll be super disappointed if you don’t!”

“I’ll tell her I’m sick or something.”

“Would you, Eddie? Would you really?”

He gathered the sudden impression of the symbiote staring at him from within.

“And I mean, Flash will be there.”

“So? What does that matter to me? I saw him just yesterday.”

“I’m just saying! You clearly enjoy each other’s company.”

“It’s - the symbiote - it cares about him - doesn’t mean that I-”

Andi grinned and started away with a casual wave. “See you at six, Eddie. Don’t forget to bring a dessert. Flash really likes turtle brownies, but I’m sure Venom could’ve told you that.”

Eddie stared after her. He always _had_ enjoyed baking…

_“I will assist you as I am able?”_

_No, no, we’re not going._

Dr. Steven, silent until now, piped up, “I’ve theorized that increased social interaction would be good for symbiotes and hosts alike, as humans are a social species and the same would seem to be true for bonded pairs.”

He almost snapped back with a cold remark. The symbiote reminded him to be kind. “Thank you for your… input, Dr. Steven.”

“Oh, um, that reminds me.” He dug a flash drive out from his pocket and held it out. “I’ve been researching the effects of music on symbiotes and these songs seem to make the little one happy.”

“A mix tape?”

Steven shrugged. “Merry Christmas?”

He took it gingerly before letting the symbiote absorb it. “Thank you. I’m sorry, I haven’t got anything in return for you.”

“Well,” he said with a smile, “I do get to spend all day learning more than I could ever imagine about an alien species, with your collective blessing. Least I can do.”

“Thank you, Steven. For taking care of it. And, Merry Christmas. From both of us.”

\-----

Three hours later, the brownies were cooling and the music mix Steven had crafted played over a cheap laptop. It was a variety of mostly classical music with the occasional sixties rock song thrown in. Eddie found himself humming along to “All Day and All of the Night” while the symbiote licked the mixing bowl clean. It then licked a spot on Eddie’s beard, making him laugh, and he pressed a kiss to the long appendage. “I’m making these because they sounded good.”

_“Of course you are, Eddie.”_

“I don’t care what Thompson thinks.”

_“Of course you don’t, Eddie.”_

It reached tendrils out to grab one of the beaters from the mixer. His other dangled one before him, and dodged when he tried to bat it away. With a sigh, he stuck his tongue out and swiped a little bit of the batter. It, of course, got on his beard again, not that he would complain about the symbiote licking him clean.

“It’s still a bad idea.”

_“It will mostly be people we saw last night. People who know you are a good person. People who know you have changed.”_

“Parker will be there.”

_“Peter and I have… come to an understanding of sorts.”_

Eddie wasn't keen on all the details of the Red Goblin incident. His other had bonded with Spider-Man in a last ditch effort to defeat the symbiote-powered Norman Osborn. Upon returning with Flash, who'd been injured, Eddie learned the web-slinger's identity once the symbiote rebonded with him. He and Parker had crossed paths a couple times, but with a silent pact to stay out of each other's way. Whatever Flash thought of learning his best friend had also been his hero all these years, Eddie wasn't privy to. Not that he cared.

He ran water in the cookware before retreating to the worn couch a few feet away. “Why is this so important to you? It’s not like you can even show yourself in front of everyone.” Eddie sat, glancing at the cheap cell phone Flash had convinced him to get. A light blinked, indicating he had unchecked messages.

The symbiote formed before him, its concern flowing through their bond. It wasn’t pity, just… sadness. Sorrow.

 _“I regret the way I isolated us, Eddie. Who we were as Venom was amazing and unique, but we cut ourselves off from the world. I can never remedy that. But I can try to make what we have_ now _better.”_

“By making me go to a party?”

It leaned forward, rubbing against his cheek and beard with a soft rumble that sounded a bit like a purr. _“Yes. And you will dress appropriately for the occasion.”_ A moment later, his t-shirt and jacket melted down, becoming a coarser fiber, strands knitting together into an appropriately-patterned red and green sweater.

In the bottom corner sat a tiny embroidered white spider, identical to the one they always had displayed over their chest. Eddie snorted in laughter. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”

 _“No,”_ it said. The symbiote laved its tongue over his cheek and gave a gentle nip. _“You are mine, Eddie, always.”_ It wound about his neck like a scarf, settling against him comfortably. _“And I am yours, as long as you will have me.”_

A warm feeling bloomed in his chest so strongly it ached. He pulled his other closer, kissing gently, enjoying the way its tongue slipped into his mouth. He chuckled as he could taste the brownie batter still there.

Maybe this Christmas… wouldn’t turn out _too_ awful.

\-----

Eddie didn’t know how so many people fit into May Parker’s small home without it feeling tremendously cramped. The smell of baked goods filled the air and even the standard Christmas album seemed less cliche than it would have been anywhere else. He felt out-of-place here despite the stream of well-wishes and “you were so great with the kids last night!” comments. He caught Peter’s eye at one point as well as a hissed, “Peter, _don’t_ ” from Mary Jane Watson. Eddie nodded cordially to the both of them, and at least Mary Jane offered a tiny smile in return.

Flash had come too, of course, and Andi as well. Many of the friends and family of those gathered had come, even old acquaintances. Anyone who had been at odds with each other in the past had set it aside from this evening. It didn’t feel like _pretending_ , exactly - but there was something about May Parker that made people want to behave. She lingered among her guests with an authenticity and warmth no one else could match.

The symbiote, for its part, encouraged him throughout the evening to linger nearby food ( _we may have_ two _pieces of fudge,_ he informed it) but also to strike up conversation at least once or twice. He and Elizabeth Brant even got into a long discussion about the prevalence of tabloids even in this day and age, though he had to excuse himself when he felt his other trying to sneak a tentacle back to the plate of fudge.

Andi had put on some sort of ridiculous contraption - a hat with a long wire coming from the top of it with a sprig of mistletoe on the end. He had a feeling it wasn’t a real hat at all, but she had a grand time lingering near people with her hat and loudly announcing, “Oh look, you’re under the mistletoe!” Most just laughed and played along with a quick kiss on the cheek. When she’d approached Eddie as he chatted with May about the previous evening, he flushed.

“Oh, Eddie, look at that, you’re under-”

“-the mistletoe; hilarious, Andrea.”

May laughed when Andi responded, “Come on, it’s tradition!”

“I-” He felt Peter staring at him. “Mrs. Parker, I really shouldn’t…”

“You are sometimes _too_ polite, Edward,” May said. She offered her cheek, and as discreetly as possible, he placed a small peck on it.

She then managed to convince him to dance the Christmas Waltz with her, and well, who could refuse May Parker? At one point he cast an apologetic glance to Peter, who wasn’t having any of it. Peter just continued to try and ignore them in favor of bitching to Mary Jane about something he couldn’t hear and didn’t care to find out. It felt… nice, though. May had been there for him during the worst time of his life. Things weren’t perfect, but they were better.

He could do with “better”.

\-----

As the evening wound down, most of the guests left the party, though a few lingered to help May clean up. They’d almost finished when Flash flagged him down.

“Eddie, hey!”

He felt a surge of affection from the symbiote - different from how it often responded to him, but just as strong. Eddie shook it off. “Thompson; hey. Merry Christmas.”

“Same to you,” and in a stage whisper, “both of ya.” He leaned on his cane, apparently healed up enough to using the prostheses again, and smiled. “I meant to grab you earlier, but there’s a million people and everyone wants to know how everything is going at all times and…” Flash waved it off. “I’m glad you were able to come. May would’ve been disappointed if you hadn’t. Everyone was really impressed with your enthusiasm last night.”

“The F.E.A.S.T. Center and I have a… long history. It was the least I could do. Besides, you know, _kids_.”

“Yeah. You look great with a beard though. It suits you.”

Andi chose that moment to slink in and nudge her godfather. “Hey Coach, did you know that Eddie made those turtle brownies? The ones you ate like six of?”

“Wait, really?” Flash’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t know you could bake, Eddie. Those were amazing. They’re my favorite.”

_“Told you so.”_

_Hush, you._

“I’m trying to get back into it,” he said, because it sounded better than “I’ve spent years in various stages of instability and this is the first apartment in a while with an actual oven”.

“That’s good. I know what it’s like to go through that weird phase of instability so I’m glad you’re doing all right. But I mean, saving the world like three times in the last couple years…”

Eddie looked away because Flash was too much of an open book for him to handle. The way the other man beamed at him - Flash, who had been a _space warrior_ and the one to get Venom home. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at him like that, except maybe Andi, in her frustrated-but-impressed response to him wrestling with a symbiote powered by a cosmic elder god. There had been the Rex symbiote too, and he insisted that without its assistance they would’ve been goners. She’d hugged him then, and through the newfound telepathic bond between her symbiote and his own, a wave of fear and relief slipped through.

 _“People_ care _about you, Eddie. Why is that so strange to you?”_

“Yeah, you’re both morons,” Andi interrupted, poking Eddie in the shoulder. She then grinned and made sure the wire holding the mistletoe from her hat hung between them. “And now you’re both…”

“Andrea!”

“ _Andi!_ ”

“It’s not like this would be the weirdest thing you guys have done,” she said in a low murmur.

Flash sighed and shrugged. “I mean, she’s right.”

“This is juvenile.”

“She won’t leave us alone unless we play along.”

“I…” Eddie hoped that his other was keeping his face from getting too red. “Fine.”

He moved closer, placing one hand on Flash Thompson’s face to angle it up a little. Eddie leaned down, closing the few inches of height between them, and kissed him. It was slow, and sweet, and he felt Flash’s hand on the back of his head, and he found he _liked_ it, and that was terrifying so he pulled away. He dared a glance at Andi, who stared at them like she’d just had a revelation.

“Thanks for playing along guys, I gotta - gonna help May with the - bye.”

Eddie finally got the nerve to look at Flash again, who was _definitely_ blushing.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Good kisser.”

“Thanks, you too.” Eddie cringed internally. What the _hell_ was that? How long had it been since he’d kissed another human being? And all he could manage was “thanks, you too”? It wasn’t like when he kissed the symbiote, what with the swirl of emotions he could feel right there, but it was _nice_. He scratched idly at his beard. “I hope the beard didn’t bug you too much.”

“Mmm, no, it tickled a little, but I liked it.”

They stared at each other before looking away. What time was it? Maybe he could make an excuse, get out of here, even though he’d been looking forward to catching up with Flash. This was too weird, though, and he didn’t like the way his other practically giggled in the back of his mind, probably responding to some new flood of chemicals.

“I know it’s getting late,” Flash said, perhaps reading his thoughts, “but I got you just a little something. It’s no big deal, I just had been meaning to give this to you for a while anyways.” He excused himself then, disappearing into another room.

_This is terrible. I don’t have anything for him._

_“You did make the brownies.”_

_Yes, but they weren’t_ for _him._

_“Weren’t they, though?”_

Flash reappeared with his jacket on and a gift box in his hands. “Come on, I’ll show you outside.” They stepped out into the small backyard, and Flash handed it over. “Merry Christmas, Eddie.”

He tipped the lid open to reveal a massive amount of dark chocolate truffles. The symbiote’s favourite - and his own. Eddie laughed despite himself. “Of course you’d know. Down to the brand.” They checked to see no one was peering through a window, and the symbiote snuck itself away from him, forming a head to rub up against Flash’s cheek. It emitted a weird kind of purr, and he scratched it affectionately.  

“Yeah, you know I’ve got your back, buddy.” Flash grinned wider as he turned to Eddie. “Keep digging.”

Beneath the truffles sat a box, and within it, two earpieces, like a radio.

“It’s a two-way-radio,” he explained. “It runs on its own frequency, so you won’t have to worry about interference. I know you guys are usually a solo act but sometimes it’s nice to have someone have your back. I’m not much help these days, but even if you and Mania decided to pursue something together, this might be a nice alternative to the weird telepathy thing she said you’ve got now.”

“I… I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Flash.”

“You’re a good man, Eddie. I mean that. And you make Venom happy, which means more to me than you could know.”

Eddie didn’t know what to say to that, even as the symbiote echoed its old partner’s words. It missed him, he knew, but insisted it would equally miss Eddie, and that they needed each other. But maybe they _all_ needed each other. The three of them, bound now more closely by the cosmos than ever before.

He set the box down carefully and stepped into the shadows. “Come here.” The symbiote then colored his words as well. **“We want to show you something.”** As soon as they were all out of sight from anyone who might glance out the window, the symbiote covered him, making them one, merging heart and mind together, and then they tapped into that old cosmic energy that flowed through them now. Tendrils weaved from his back and shoulderblades, lengthening into wings.

Flash was slack-jawed, and then he burst into the biggest smile Eddie had ever seen on a man. “H-holy shit! You have wings! _You’ve got wings!_ Is this the, from one of the Hive abilities-?”

**“Yes. We had been wanting to show you, but never had a good opportunity.”**

“Can I feel them?” he blurted, and they laughed.

**“They are no different than the rest of us.”**

Nevertheless, he approached and ran his hand reverently across the red membrane. “Oh… it’s soft!” He rubbed his cheek on it. “You can fly, then?”

 **“We are still practicing,”** they admitted, **“but yes. We usually web-swing in the normal manner though.”**

“C-can I see?”

Venom extended a claw to him, and Eddie had a thought. _Love, is this wise?_

_“It is nighttime. We can blend in with the shadows if necessary.”_

Flash practically vibrated with excitement. They took his cane, slipping it into the broad biomass like some kind of magic trick, and scooped him up, using a few tendrils so his prostheses wouldn’t hang down awkwardly. **“Hold on,”** they advised, and that was his only warning before they crouched down, and then sprung up with a powerful thrust of their wings.

He clung tighter around their neck, laughing delightedly. Even through his jacket, they felt his warmth against them as they climbed higher into the night sky, above the sparse trees and neighborhood. Soon they were above Queens, and from here, New York had never looked so beautiful. The lights reflected in Flash’s green eyes, and Venom could see they were shining. They slowed, almost hovering, and Flash took their face in his hands.

“I’m so proud of you both. This is… this is the best Christmas present ever. _Thank you_.”

And in that moment, they had no fear, no hesitation, just adjusted their grip and leaned down to kiss him. The symbiote slipped tendrils into his neck, connecting them all in the dark night, and everything felt right. Like they belonged together.

Like this was meant to be.

_Merry Christmas._


End file.
